House

One of the many differences between my mother and me is that when I say “let’s buy a house,” I mean let’s ponder the idea in a state of extreme overwhelm and lassitude for about six months and then maybe laboriously make some small moves in that direction, complaining about how impossible it is at every step.

When my mom says “let’s buy a house,” on the other hand, she means let’s go buy a house right now.

So, a mere weekend after agreeing to look for property together, I found myself under contract for a house in Kyle, which is what my mom calls a cow town about as far South from Austin as I currently am North from it. It’s a great house, and Kyle is…well, it’s closer to the parts of Austin and the parts of the Hill Country that I like best, as well as currently being more rural and much less congested than this part of town, although I’m sure that will change soon. I will really miss this neighborhood which is idyllic. But I won’t miss how close the houses are together, or the ugly sprawl around it (although that sprawl will likely follow me eventually).

We close in mid August and I go back to work September 13th, so now all that I have to do in a month is pack, move, find a new nanny, and prepare and sell my current house, all while caring for my four-month-old. No sweat!

Just kidding! I’ve never been so fucking stressed in my life!

When I bought this house* (my first), I was convinced it was the last piece of property I would ever buy, but things change. I reflected when I bought this house that I had never lived in a single house or apartment for longer than three years, and I was looking forward to not packing up and moving and going through all that mess again. Well, I have lived here for three years on the dot and now here I go again!

But this time, it’s really, really, really the last time. Probably. (Not likely.)

*Incidentally, when I had this house pre-inspected this past weekend, the inspector asked what on earth had happened to the security system and the outlet in the master closet which looked to have been mauled by a bear. The linked post explains.